Battle for the Throne
by Light Flame Blast
Summary: Calem has at last arrived at the Radiant Chamber, where he will face Diantha in a final battle for the title of Pokemon Champion of Kalos.


The Radiant Chamber was just as beautiful as Calem had been told.

He watched in awe as the pokeball shaped lift leveled him to the bright oval room, briefly stunned by its sheer size and light reflecting walls. Hell, in such a dazzling room, it would be hard to focus on the Champion battle.

Though as soon as he looked at the woman sitting on the throne, he found himself mistaken. He knew she was the Champion of Kalos, and yet he couldn't help but gasp at the sight before him.

It was none other than Diantha herself, the famous actress that had starred in so many of his favorite movies. Her expression was almost as radiant as the room itself as she stood up from her throne and walked over to her side of the field, raising her voice. "Calem! You made it, I see!"

It took him a moment to shake off the shock before replying with an equally excited tone, nodding. "Oh, yes, you bet, Diantha! I'm here to take this throne and this flashy room for myself!"

The Champion looked amused by that retort. "Wel'll see about that, Calem! Don't think I'll take it easy on you just because you are Augustine's pupil!" She said that with a wink, looking over at the sidelines, where a referee was ready for the match. "Alright, Pierre, if you could please initiate the battle, we are ready."

The elderly man hastily nodded, raising a couple of red flags and shouting out for both battlers. "This is the battle for the position of Pokemon Champion of Kalos between the current Champion Diantha, from Laverre City, and the challenger Calem, from Vaniville Town! This is a six on six match, and the participants may only switch out when the opposing pokemon is down! The battle is over when all pokemon from a side cannot battle anymore!"

Calem waited impatiently for his speech to end, a pokeball already prepared on his hand. The time had come.

From a backdoor, four mr. mime entered the chamber and positioned themselves in a square around the field. "Raise the wall!" The referee ordered, and the four psychic pokemon raised their hands to form a twirling wall of energy around the battlefield, an almost unbreakable force field that would protect both trainers from getting struck by stray attacks, but that would let pokeballs be thrown in. Pierre then swung his flags. "BEGIN!"

Calem instantly tossed a pokeball into the field, just as Diantha tossed hers. Phoenix burst out, cawing as he shot to the air and glared down at the masked red hawk that appeared on the other side of the field, getting into a battle stance. The boy narrowed his eyes; in an advantage or not, his talonflame would have to be careful with such a formidable foe as a hawlucha.

"Hawlucha, Bulk Up!" Diantha ordered. The wrestling pokemon started flexing its muscles as a red aura surrounded it, boosting its strength. Gritting his teeth, Calem made his move.

"Brave Bird!" Phoenix was enveloped in a bright orange aura as he sped towards his opponent, swooping down to strike the hawlucha. The fighter managed to grab onto his wings in the last second, decreasing the force of the impact but still getting slammed against the barrier. It then tossed Phoenix across the field. "Uh, Flamethrower!"

"Dodge it and use Poison Jab!" Diantha yelled. Hawlucha jumped to avoid the fiery stream, its claws glowing a deep purple as it glided across the field to jab the fallen scorching pokemon in the gut, shoving him backwards. The talonflame cawed defiantly, spewing another Flamethrower without being ordered and this time managing to land a hit.

"Okay, Phoenix, to the air! Agility and Flamethrower!" Phoenix flapped his wings frantically to get back into the air and sped over the field, growing progressively faster as he occasionally shot quick Flamethrowers down at hawlucha, who struggled to dodge. Finally, he knocked the wrestling pokemon to its knees, swooping down.

"Steel Wing!"

"High Jump Kick!"

The two powerful attacks collided in the middle of the field, sending a shockwave into the barrier. As the two battlers reared back to wind another attack, hawlucha seemed to have taken the heavier damage. It was limping, gritting its teeth.

"Finish it off! Brave Bird!" Calem shouted confidently, bumping his fist.

Phoenix cawed loudly and charged towards his opponent once more, bursting into energy as Brave Bird neared its mark. At the last few seconds, however, Diantha shouted her orders. "Counter with Stone Edge!"

Both Calem and Phoenix's eyes widened and the talonflame tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. A sharp stone pillar burst out of the ground, blocking the Brave Bird and knocking the scorching pokemon back. Before he could recover, another pillar struck him from below, followed by a series of others. The talonflame was hurled into the air and fell limp to the floor, defeated.

"Talonflame is unable to battle, hawlucha wins! Calem will now send out his second pokemon. Diantha, will you switch out?" Pierre asked.

"No. Hawlucha can take it." The Champion said calmly, looking over a Calem with a light grin, challenging him to go on. The boy took a deep breath and quickly recalled Phoenix before tossing his second pokeball.

"Silver, you are up!" The field lightened into a white flash as the Aegislash burst out of the pokeball, his pink eye shimmering in determination.

"Oh...crud." Diantha cursed to herself. She had forgotten about Calem's aegislash. Now she was stuck attacking with Stone Edge, but an idea formed in her mind. "Hawlucha, Bulk Up again!"

"Silver, get closer with Shadow Sneak!" Calem shouted, prompting the royal sword pokemon to sink into his shadow and disappear while hawlucha boosted its strength with Bulk Up.

"Cover yourself with Stone Edge." Diantha said confidently. Hawlucha quickly stomped the ground to summon the rock pillars around itself, creating a rock tent of sorts. Right at that moment, Silver leapt out of his shadow to attack, just to bounce off the rocks. "Now attack it!"

"King's Shield!" The aegislash was still quick enough to cover himself with his shield and execute the move before being struck by another pillar, which crashed against his glowing shield and sent a shockwave through the arena. However, more pillars soon appeared around him, trapping him in the same rock tent. "What?"

"Bulk Up." Diantha smirked. While Silver wasted time getting out of the trap, hawlucha would just grow stronger and more durable. But Calem's next command took her off guard.

"Silver, try out the move we've been practicing! Flash Cannon!" There was a buzzing sound before the stone trap exploded with a flash and a powerful beam of light shot towards the wrestling pokemon, engulfing it and causing an explosion. When it cleared, hawlucha was on the ground, out cold.

"Hawlucha is unable to battle, aegislash wins! Diantha will now send out her second pokemon! Calem, will you switch out?" Pierre inquired, and Calem nodded.

"I'll need you later, Silver. Rest." He whispered as he recalled the aegislash, swapping pokeballs. Once Diantha tossed hers, he did the same.

The two battlers immediately glared each other down as they were summoned, Diantha's aurorus towering over Calem's greninja, Hopper. Regardless, the ninja pokemon crossed his arms and looked back at his trainer, nodding quickly.

"I see your frogadier has evolved since we last met, great! Let's see how it will fare." The Champion smirked as she snapped her fingers. "Aurorus, Freeze-Dry!"

"Dodge it!" Calem hurriedly called. Aurorus summoned several glowing ice orbs that shot towards Hopper, who skillfully dodged each of them as he neared the tundra pokemon with swirling dark energy in his hands, predicting the next order. "Night Slash!"

Hopper sprang upwards as a dark katana took shape in his hand and swung it mightly into aurorus' neck, sending the tundra pokemon sliding back several feet as it let out a pained screech. Unexpectedly, it spun around to smack Hopper with its tail, sending the greninja to the ground with a huff.

"Hopper, are you okay?" Calem sighed in relief once his starter stood up to glare at aurorus, ready for more. "Water Shuriken and then jump for Smack Down!"

"Freeze-Dry!"

The ice orbs and water stars cancelled each other out in the middle of the field, but Hopper was already making his next move. True to his name, the greninja jumped high into the air towards his opponent, before bringing his knee down into aurorus' head with a mighty Smack Down, sending the tundra pokemon stumbling to the floor.

"Okay, Hopper, Night Slash again!" Calem ordered confidently, and the greninja came down on his opponent with the dark katana once again.

"Light Screen and Blizzard." Diantha said calmly, much to Calem's confusion. Light Screen was useless against Night Slash, could she be making a mistake? No. It had to be a plan.

Aurorus summoned a thin pink barrier around it as Hopper struck it, but didn't let the pain restrain it. The tundra pokemon immediately summoned a blizzard around it and Hopper, engulfing both in the cold wind. The greninja gasped in pain and latched to aurorus' neck, not letting the blizzard carry him away as he tried another Night Slash.

"Hopper!" Calem's eyes widened once the blizzard dissipated, revealing an intact aurorus and a half frozen Hopper stuck on its back, unable to move. It was then that Diantha spoke again.

"Thunder."

So _that's_ what the Light Screen was for! Before Calem could make an order, aurorus roared and a powerful lightning bolt shot out of the roof above, striking the two battlers at full force. The special protection allowed the tundra pokemon to escape unharmed, but Hopper didn't have such luck and the super effective move sent him flying into the field barrier, breaking the ice around him.

"Hopper! Can you keep up?!" Calem ran to where his starter was laying, crouching down besides him across the wall. The greninja looked tiredly at him and grunted as he tried to stand up, shakily managing to. Hopper gave his trainer a bold nod and got into a battle stance once more, a blue aura suddenly erupting around him. Calem could feel its power through the barrier, stepping away. He smirked.

Torrent.

"Well, that's a twist!" Diantha whistled with her hands on her hips, opening a wide smile. Aurorus looked unsettled by its opponent's power boost but roared mightly, ready. "Let's see how Torrent will help you now! Aurorus, Freeze-Dry into Thunder!"

"Dodge it and use Water Shuriken at the orbs!" Calem shouted. With renewed energy, Hopper sped out of the way as Thunder struck the spot he had been standing at, the water stars ready in his hands. The greninja jumped into the air and tossed them with pin point accuracy, the Torrent boosted move easily overpowering Freeze-Dry and hitting aurorus violently, finally taking it down.

"Aurorus is unable to battle, greninja wins!" Pierre announced, seeming to be just as excited by the match as the battlers. "Champion Diantha will now send her next pokemon! Calem, will you switch out?"

Hopper looked back at Calem with a fierce gaze, shaking his head veemently. His trainer smirked and negated the question.

"This greninja of yours really is something, huh? I'm getting worried now." Diantha laughed hearthly as she tossed an Ultra Ball into the field. From it emerged a large gooey dragon Calem recognized as a goodra, just like Shauna's. "Your turn, goodra!"

 _Crap...Torrent won't be much useful against this one._ Calem cursed under his breath, pumping his fist forwards. "Okay Hopper, we can do this. Water Shuriken!"

Hopper swiftly tossed a pair of larger water stars at his opponent, who braced itself. To everyone's surprise, the attack barely fazed goodra, who just shook itself clean.

"Like that, kid? She was raised specifically for enduring powerful hits." Diantha smirked across the battle field as she gracefully raised her hand. "Goodra, use Thunderbolt."

"Dodge it!" A wary Calem commanded, eyes widened. Hopper immediately obeyed, zigzagging around the incoming lightning bolts and moving closer to his opponent. Perharps going for melee could work? "Night Slash!"

"Power Whip!"

Hopper's dark katana was met by a powerful swing of goodra's glowing tail, resulting in a brief stalemate before the latter overpowered the former. The greninja was barely able to dodge, panting. He wouldn't last much longer, it was clear. Time for their trump card.

"Hopper, point blank Ice Beam!" Calem shouted, gritting his teeth. Hopper quickly beckoned his hands and formed a shimmering orb of cold energy, before slamming it into goodra's gut. The dragon gasped as she was blown away by the powerful attack, bumping into the psychic barrier with frost through her body.

Diantha scowled at that, pressing her lips. The Champion briefly registered how tired Hopper was before commanding. "Barrage of Thunderbolt!"

Goodra shook herself clean and roared while summoning several Thunderbolt rays from her antennas and fiirng tjem at the greninja.

"DODGE IT!" Calem shrieked, helpless as Hopper desperately jumped around the multiple bolts, occasionally blocking one with Ice Beam. However, the sheer amount of lightning coming from goodra's antennas eventually caught him, and the greninja screeched as he was mercilessly pummeled by the electric attacks before collapsing, unable to move.

"Greninja is unable to battle, goodra wins! Calem will now send out his fourth pokemon! Diantha, will you switch out?" Pierre inquired.

"Yes. Goodra, return." Diantha calmly said, recalling the dragon before pulling another pokeball.

"You did amazingly, Hopper. Nothing less than I would expect from you." Calem whispered as he recalled his starter, smiling down at his pokeball as he swapped it with another.

Both trainers sent out their choices. From Diantha's side, came a large gourgeist. From Calem's, a fierce looking noivern.

"Gourgeist, use Leech Seed." Diantha sighed, displeased by the disadvantage. But she still had a trick under her sleeve.

"Blast, block it with Air Slash!" Calem countered. The noivern screeched and flapped her wings, sending multiple blades of air that sliced the incoming seeds. However, gourgeist avoided them with Phantom Force. Blast growled, looking around uncertainly.

"Phantom Force and Trick-or-Treat!" Diantha smirked. The pumpking pokemon suddenly dropped from the ceiling and tackled Blast to the ground, earning a surprised squeal. Both were then enveloped in a deep purple glow, indicating the latter move's effect.

"Shake it off, Blast! Fire Blast!" Calem grit his teeth, his orders coming more nervously than he would like to admit. Feeling this, the noivern sprang to the air at astounding speed and knocked the gourgeist off of her, before blasting it with a star shaped flame.

"Shadow Ball!" The pumpkin pokemon quickly rose from the fire and fired a black orb at its opponent. It exploded into Blast's gut and smacked her to the floor with surprising force. At the sight of Calem's puzzled expression, Diantha smirked. "Trick-or-Treat. Turns the target into a ghost type."

Her smirk faded once gourgeist burst into flames from Fire Blast's burn effect, whilpering in pain."Shadow Ball!"

"Dragon Pulse!" Calem barked.

The two attacks exploded in the middle of the field, causing the mr. mime to wince as they struggled to keep up the barrier. Both battlers looked worn out, but the noivern seemed to be in a slightly better shape.

"Finish this off, Blast! Air Slash barrage!" Calem shouted. Blast screeched with equal passion, bursting to the air and once again flapping her wings wildly. The wind blades soared across the field to impact into gourgeist several times, earning a pained scream as the pumpkin pokemon slid back some meters and fell limp.

"Gourgeist is unable to battle, noivern wins! Champion Diantha will now send out her next pokemon! Calem, will you switch out?" Pierre asked.

Calem nodded, recalling the angry Blast. He would need all the power he could for Diantha's last pokemon. Not to mention that goodra.

Both trainers sent out their next pokemon.

"Flora!"

"Tyrantrum!"

Both dinosaurs landed heavily on the field and glared at each other, the venusaur looking unsettled by the situation. Though after glancing back at Calem, she quickly relaxed.

"Oh, I remember this one. The bulbasaur Augustine gave you, no? Good job raising her!" Diantha complimented, though her attention was turned to the glowing orb chucked into a band around venusaur's stalk. So this was his secret weapon...

"She has grown really strong, you'll see. Flora, Energy Ball!" Calem smirked. Flora opened her mouth to fire a glowing green orb at her opponent, who growled.

"Block it with Dragon Claw!" Diantha countered. Tyrantrum roared as its claws spreaded out with a blue glow and sliced the orb apart before charging at the venusaur and striking her violently on the head, forcing her to her knees with a huff. "Crunch!"

"Hell no, Sleep Powder!" Before the despot pokemon could chomp down on her flower, Flora shot out a puff of green spores right into its mouth. Tyrantrum stumbled and snarled, trying to shake off the drowse that was taking it over...

Before collapsing heavily.

"Damnit! Tyrantrum, wake up, dear! This is a bad time!" Diantha had a fearful tone in her voice, her confidence faltering once her huge dragon fell down.

"Not quite yet. Flora, Leech Seed! Wear it down!" Calem confidently shouted. The seed pokemon shot out a series of tiny seeds that spread into vines upon contact, binding tyrantrum and beginning to sap its health. It stirred in its sleep in response.

"Tyrantrum, please wake up! Listen to me!" Diantha cried to her pokemon as it was struck by an Energy Ball. "Come on!"

"Keep attacking, Flora! Energy Ball again!" Calem ordered. The venusaur fired her attack once more, this time striking the despot pokemon's face.

It woke up with a roar and stomped the ground as it stood up, glaring fiercely at its opponent. Leech Seed was still under effect, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

 _Uh oh_ Calem thought.

"Good job, dear, now use Head Smash!" Diantha shouted in triumph. Tyrantrum roared as it charged forwards, its body enveloped in a reddish white aura as it lowered its head. Flora braced herself for the impact and fired a retaliating Energy Ball, but it was overpowered by the powerful move and the seed pokemon was struck dead on, sent flying into the barrier despite her massive weight.

"Flora! Can you continue?" Calem asked worriedly as he knelt down before his fallen pokemon. The venusaur stared at him with determination before shakily raising to her feet, growling. Tyrantrum growled right back, though the recoil from Head Smash had worn it down greatly.

Both tired. The first to score a hit would win.

"Energy Ball!"

"Ancient Power!"

The despot pokemon summoned a series of glowing rocks and hurled them, colliding with Flora's energy orb. The two attacks cancelled each other out in an explosion, but a second Energy Ball burst from the smoke and struck tyrantrum, taking it down.

"Tyrantrum is unable to battle, venusaur wins! The champion will send out her next pokemon. Calem, are you switching out?" Pierre asked.

Calem quickly returned Flora to her pokeball after muttering a thanks to her, taking a deep breath. He had four, Diantha was down to two. But he knew just how powerful these two were. He would need all the power he could gather.

He figured Diantha could save the gardevoir to the very end. She always did.

And he would exploit that.

As the two Ultra Balls landed on the field, the goodra from before shot out with a roar, while Calem's weavile silently got into a battle stance.

"Well then." Diantha sighed at another disadvantage,, raising her hand. "Goodra, Thunderbolt."

"Dodge it, Razor! Ice Shard!" Calem ordered, tension in his voice. Razor evaded the lightning with surprising agility before forming an ice orb and hurling it at goodra, who managed to shatter it with a blow from Power Whip. "Again!"

"Fire Blast!" Diantha suddenly shouted, to her opponents' shock. Goodra smirked and spewed the fire attack, breaking through the ice and scoring a direct hit. With a surprised squeak, Razor was sent rolling away into the barrier before shakily getting to his feet, growling.

"Calm down, buddy, don't lose your cool. Get closer with Night Slash." Calem sighed in relief as the weavile obeyed, darting across the field with his claws glowing in a dark energy. He leapt up and slashed goodra's neck, causing her to scream in pain and unleash a Thunderbolt in retaliation, knocking Razor to the floor.

"Power Whip!"

"Dodge it and use Screech!"

Razor narrowly rolled out of the way of goodra's tail before emitting a loud, high pitched screech that caused everyone in the chamber to wince and the barrier to flicker. Goodra stumbled, whining in pain and visibly more vulnerable.

Realising her situation, Diantha suddenly cried out. "Goodra, finish this with Draco Meteor!"

 _Crap!_

Calem had no time to react before goodra spewed a glowing orb high into the air and it exploded into a meteor shower, falling down towards Razor.

Seeing no options, Calem ordered. "ICE PUNCH!"

Razor, briefly dazed by the meteors, snapped back to the field and summoned a cold, icy aura in his claw before jumping and slamming it into goodra's face at full force. The impact left frost in her antennas, and the dragon stumbled several meters back before collasping.

Before the referee could announce her defeat, the meteors crashed into the weavile and exploded, triggering a loud scream.

When the dust cleared, both battlers were out cold.

"Oh, well." Pierre murmured, stunned for a second too long. Clearing his throat, he quickly gathered his bearings. "Goodra and weavile are both unable to battle! Champion Diantha will now send out her final pokemon, while challenger Calem will send his next of three already chosen!"

Diantha took a deep breath as she held a Heal Ball in her hand. She had gone through this before, cornered in a numbers disadvantage. But she could pull this through. Her gardevoir was her strongest pokemon, after all.

Calem had a similar line of thought, considering the two advantages and one disadvantage he had. He would have to be careful.

"Eva, I need your help!"

"Silver, you are up!"

The gardevoir landed gracefully on the field as she glared at the floating aegislash, both analysing each other. Calem had to admit, she looked more powerful than last time he had met her.

And he looked warily at the shiny necklace the wore. Mega Stone. Not good.

"Flash Cannon!" He shouted. Silver's eye briefly flashed before a beam of light erupted towards Eva, who merely glanced back at her trainer and nodded.

"Dodge it with Psychic. Immobilize it." Diantha said, keeping her cool. The embrace pokemon quickly lifted herself telekinetically to avoid Flash Cannon, before sending that energy towards Silver.

Realising that, Calem was quick to react. "Hide! Shadow Sneak!"

Silver sunk into his shadow seconds before Psychic reached him, disappearing completely.

"Now Iron Head!" Faster than his opponent could react, Silver burst out of the shadows with his body glowing silver and slammed violently into Eva, sending the gardevoir skidding several meters with a pained gasp. To their surprise, she only looked mildly hurt by the super effective move.

"Shadow Ball." Diantha ordered calmly, prompting her partner to fire her attack at high speed.

"King's Shield! Don't let that hit you!" Calem shouted, knowing just how devastating that strike would be. The aegislash quickly reverted to his shield forme and summoned a glowing barrier that parried Shadow Ball, albeit barely. "Shadow Sneak again!"

This time, Diantha merely grinned once Silver disappeared. "Eva, use your empathy to find it."

Eva smirked as she scanned her surroundings with her mind, completely still. A movement...a sound...a feeling. She could feel Silver's determined anger right before her. There.

Raising her hand, the gardevoir used Psychic just as Silver shot out with Iron Head, managing to hold the aegislash in place just before he struck. The royal sword pokemon buzzed furiously, trying to break free from the psychic power.

"Shadow Ball, Eva." Diantha ordered.

"King's Shield!" But the psychic grip didn't allow room for Stance Change. Eva formed a shadowy orb and fired it at blank point, striking the vulnerable aegislash dead on and hurling him to the other side of the field, landing near Calem's feet.

"Silver?" He called. No response.

"Aegislash is unable to battle, gardevoir wins! Challenger Calem will send out his next pokemon!" Pierre announced, looking at Calem with a subtle nod.

 _Flora is my trump card. But I'll need to wear this gardevoir down for her to have a chance._ Calem then tossed his next pokeball. "Blast, come out!"

The noivern shot to the air with a screech, glaring at her opponent fiercely. "Use Boomburst!"

The deafening sound waves struck Eva dead on, causing her to scream in pain as she covered her ears, the attack pushing her back. She looked back at her trainer, nodding.

"Misty Terrain and Moonblast." Diantha called. Eva thrust her hands down and the field was suddenly engulfed in a light pink mist, sparkles coming out of the floor on occasion. The gardevoir then summoned a shimmering pink orb of energy and fired it at her opponent, the glowing field boosting it.

"Dodge it and Air Slash!" Calem shouted, now worried. Blast quickly maneuvered around the Moonblast, though she looked visibly uneasy and tired, probably becaused of Misty Terrain. Regadless, she quickly flapped her wings to shoot a barrage of air blades at the embrace pokemon.

"Psychic." Diantha said simply. While a few blades hit their mark, Eva managed to disrupt most of the attack with Psychic energy and raised her arm. Blast suddenly twitched and stopped moving midair, growling fiercely as she vainly attempted to break free. "Now, Moonblast again."

"Blast, Boomburst!" Calem shouted out. The noivern managed to unleash the powerful sound waves at the same time as Eva fired her attack, but Boomburst was no match for the powerful Moonblast. The fairy attack easily overpowered the sound waves and hit its mark, causing a big explosion that shook the field. The barrier flickered, the mr. mime briefly feeling the impact before recreating it.

Blast fell out of the dust cloud, collapsing limply.

"Noivern is unable to battle, gardevoir wins! And now, for the final round of this battle, challenger Calem will send out his final pokemon!" Pierre announced to both battlers.

"I'm counting on you now." Calem whispered to the final pokeba in his hands, clutching it tightly before tossing it into the field with all force. "FLORA, COME ON OUT!"

The venusaur landed on the field with a mighty roar, glaring at her opponent with fierce eyes. She looked back at her trainer, nodding boldly.

"So, the final match of the day! This is bound to be good." Diantha smirked, her hand brushing on her own necklace containing a Key Stone. "What do you say we go all out?"

"I think that's a great idea!" Calem returned the smirk as he raised his arm, touching his own Key Stone in his ring. "Let's do this!"

As the two trainers touched their Key Stones, their pokemon's Mega Stones started to glow. Power rippled from the two battlers as they were soon enveloped in a bright purple light, their shapes flickering underneath it.

Soon enough, the lights exploded out in a shower of sparkles, revealing the two pokemon.

Mega venusaur and mega gardevoir.

Both opponents glared each other down. Flora let out a viscious growl, while Eva just stared at her with a cold rage, the Mega Evolution having made them more aggressive. They just needed a target.

"Here we go." Calem took a deep breath as he pumped his fist forwards. "Flora, let's do this! Energy Ball!"

"Eva, Shadow Ball!" Diantha shouted excitedly. The shadowy orb collided with the green orb, the shockwave rippling into the barrier. The two pokemon contibued to pummel each other with the same attacks, scoring direct hits or causing stalemates.

Seeing this wasn't going anywhere, Calem ordered a Sleep Powder. Flora puffed out the spores, but Diantha ignored them and commanded Eva to hurl the venusaur around with Psychic.

To the boy's surprise, Sleep Powder failed, Misty Terrain's sparkles having cancelled it, However, he gasped as his huge pokemon was lifted into the air and tossed high into the air, hitting the ceiling and falling heavily to the floor. She quickly rose to her feet with no signs of damage, growling visciously. "Sludge Bomb!"

Flora unleashed a barrage of sludge blobs from her flower at her opponent. Eva let out a gasp as the super effective move rained upon her and grit her teeth in pain, waiting for commands. "Moonblast!"

"Energy Ball!"

The attacks cancelled each other out again, and Calem realised he needed to be bold if he wanted to win. "Flora, charge forwards! Close quarters!"

"Uh, Psychic." Diantha frowned and winced as the heavy venusaur charged visciously at the embrace pokemon, her thick legs causing light earthquakes before Eva raised her arm and effortlessly lifted the seed pokemon, tossing her aside into the barrier and earning a growl.

To Dianha's utter shock, some seeds fell down on Eva and quickly enveloped her into Leech Seed while Flora flew, causing the gardevoir to wince and stumble on her enlarged skirt for a moment. "What the-when did you order that?"

"Pre-planned move." Calem smirked as he watched Flora shakily getting to her feet, looking a bit better as Leech Seed did its job. "Sludge Bomb! Wear her down!"

"Eva, use Shadow Ball!" Diantha shouted, sweat dripping from her forehead. Eva desperately shot several orbs to hold back the blobs, though she seemed to be getting tired.

The field flickered and the pink mist disappeared, eliminating Diantha's advantage. She would have to think fast now. "Rip off these seeds with Psychic!"

"No, you don't! Sludge Bomb into Energy Ball!" Calem barked. As Eva quickly ripped the seeds off, she raised her arms and forced the blobs to collide into one another, though she was struck by Energy Ball and winced, forced several meters back. Diantha then called for a Moonblast, which scored a direct hit and sent Flora likewise sliding back.

Both battlers glared at the other. The next move would decide the match.

"Eva, use Psychic! Don't hold back, put it down!" Diantha commanded with a dramatic swing of her arm.

"FLORA, SLUDGE BOMB! DON'T STOP!" Calem stomped his foot, earning a roar from his venusaur. It was now or never.

Flora aimed and fired a barrage of Sludge Bombs, almost covering the ceiling due to the sheer amount of them. She was quickly forced to the floor by Eva's powerful Psychic, struggling desperatly against the gardevoir's power. However, by focusing on subduing her opponent, Eva was vulnerable to the shower of Sludge Bombs, which exploded into a venomous cloud once they impacted on the embrace pokemon.

The cloud eventually cleared away, revealing both battlers still standing, glaring each other down. No sounds in the arena. Calem gulped, his heart racing.

Eva slowly turned to face Diantha, briefly bowing her head before finally collapsing, reverting to her original form in a flash.

Pierre gasped in shock at that, while Diantha only sighed in resignation, opening a small smile before recalling Eva and giving her a quiet "thank you". Calem was frozen, staring at the fallen form of the Champion's final pokemon with his jaw hanging.

He had _won_?

"Gardevoir is unable to battle! Venusaur wins! Champion Diantha is out of usable pokemon, which means the winner of this battle is challenger Calem, from Vaniville Town!" Pierre shouted out, swinging his flags and giving the boy a wide smile. "Congratulations."

As the barrier lowered and the mr. mime started clapping, Calem snapped back to life. "FLORA!" He laughed as he tackled his huge venusaur, now back to her original form. He wrapped his arms around her neck, hugging her closely. "You are amazing, Flora, you did it! You really did!"

Flora croaked with a smile as she affectionately nuzzled her trainer, resting on her knees while panting heavily, exhausted. In their glee, they only spotted Diantha when she was standing right before them, sporting a serene smile.

"Congratulations, Calem. You are now the Champion of Kalos."


End file.
